The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation, PDPPCO, has vowed to resist the use of card readers if it will jeopardise the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan.
The Director of Media and Publicity of the Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode, made this known at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.
Fani-Kayode also denied that the campaign organization and the ruling party was not planning to implicate the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, as alleged by the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress.
The PDP campaign organization spokesman said since the card readers had not been tested during any election, the party was skeptical about their usefulness now.
Card readers are meant to prevent rigging as well as prevent multiple-voting by eligible voters. INEC is also planning to test-run the card readers in 12 states of the federation this Saturday.
Fani-Kayode, however, further alleged that he was aware that the APC, with the connivance of some unnamed members of staff of INEC, are conniving to use the card readers to frustrate accreditation of voters in some states.
He said, “Our position on the card reader remains that the machine has not been tested in any election and there are bases for genuine concern over the use of the machine, for the first time, in a crucial election of this magnitude.
“We are aware of the plot by the APC, working in cahoots with some strategically placed and retrogressive elements, to use the card readers to frustrate accreditation in some parts of the country while not enforcing strict use of the machine in some other parts”.
He added that “the truth is that if they go ahead with that wicked plot, the APC and its collaborators will only be preparing the ground for mass resistance.
“They can be rest assured that we will not sit by idly and allow such a thing to unfold”.
On the alleged plan to implicate the INEC chairman by depositing some funds in his bank account, Fani-Kayode said these allegations were nothing but “the paranoid ranting of a paranoid little man that is working for a paranoid party”.
He said the truth was that his party was “not strategising to shift the election dates”, adding that “We are not trying to frame up Jega”.